The present invention relates to shipping containers, and more particularly, to shipping containers that are intended to be converted into a display at the filling and palletizing stage or after opening at the final destination point. Even more specifically, this invention relates to such shipping/display containers that can be readily opened without having to use a knife or other sharp instrument.
In the consumer products industry, individual products are typically placed in larger containers or cartons that are shipped to retail establishments such as supermarkets. Often, at the retail establishment, the shipping container is cut open, along the perimeter of the container. Then, the top section of the container is removed and discarded, and the bottom section of the container is used as a display tray. There are numerous, well-known advantages to the use of such shipping/display containers. For instance, a large number of individual product packages may be placed on a shelf in the retail establishment by simply placing one of the shipping/display containers on that shelf. Also, the open display trays may be stacked on top of each other, on shelves, on separate display stands, or in the aisles between the shelves.
Commonly, knives or other sharp cutting tools are used to cut open containers of the above-described type. In opening the containers in this manner, it is very easy to cut accidently too deeply through the container walls and into the individual packages inside the container. Cutting into those individual packages almost always causes a loss of a certain amount of the product in those packages and creates a mess that may be expensive to clean. Further, if those inside packages contain a liquid, such as a beverage, cutting into the packages may result in a total loss of the product in the packages.
Various solutions have been proposed to prevent the accidental cutting of the packages inside the display/shipping containers. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,271 discloses a shipping/display container that is precut along a line of severance into separate top and bottom sections. These container sections are then taped together by adhesively attaching a wide tape to the side walls of the container, over the cut line between the two container sections. This wide tape has a narrow tear filament or strip attached to its inner surface; and the container is opened by pulling that tear strip to split the tape bridging the container sections, thereby separating the container into a top cover section and a bottom tray section.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,570 discloses a shipping carton having several bowed side walls that hold the inner packages away from outside edges of the carton. A knife can be inserted through those outside edges of the carton to open the carton without cutting the packages held therein. U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,281 discloses a container having one or more of its side walls formed from plural layers of panels or flaps. The outer layer of such a side wall is cut to open the container, while the inner layer of the side wall protects the packages inside the container.
The containers shown in the above-identified references are not very economical for general use; and none of the containers provides a complete, economically practical solution to the problem of fully protecting the contents of a shipping/display container from damage when the container is cut or sliced open.